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Saturday, 2 February 2013

Just Fancy That – Israel to Boycott Human Rights Council

Well Israel is always boasting about its unique achievements. Here is another one. It is the first country to boycott the toothless UN Human Rights Council. As the Greeks once said, those whom the gods wish to destroy they first drive mad.

Tony Greenstein

Israel expected to boycott
U.N. rights scrutiny session

(Reuters) - Israel is
expected to boycott a session of the U.N. Human Rights Council next week
despite the United States urging its ally to show up for an examination of its
record, the U.S. ambassador said on Thursday.

UN HQ

The Jewish state is scheduled to be in the
dock of the Geneva rights forum on Tuesday, January 29 as part of the Universal
Periodic Review (UPR) process, the council's regular scrutiny of all United
Nations member states.

"They (Israeli officials) signaled that
they want it postponed. It is very unlikely they will participate on the
29th,"

Israel has long complained about criticsm from UN HRC

Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe, U.S. human rights ambassador, told
reporters in Geneva.If the review goes ahead, Israel would likely
face criticism for its practices in the Palestinian territories, including
treatment of detainees, settlement expansion and its naval blockade of the Gaza
Strip which Palestinians say is collective punishment of the enclave's 1.6
million residents.Arab states would be expected to denounce
Israel's deadly air strikes on Hamas-ruled Gaza last November, launched with
the declared aim of ending rocket barrages.

Israel's last review was in December 2008,
when it attended. A boycott would be unprecedented and diplomats fear other
countries might follow suit to avoid scrutiny of their own human rights
records.Israel suspended relations with the council
last May because of what it called an inherent bias against it, and has
informally told the council's president that it wants the session postponed, a
U.N. spokesman said.

"A decision will be taken in the event
Israel does not show up for its UPR, the council will decide on a course of
action. States are working very hard behind the scenes to come up with a
solution," council spokesman Rolando Gomez told Reuters.

The Israeli authorities refused to co-operate with a fact-finding mission investigating settlements

A team of U.N. investigators, set up by the
council last year, is due to report soon on whether Jewish settlements in the
Palestinian territories violate international human rights law. Washington cast
the only vote against the initiative brought by the Palestinian Authority.

The Palestinians said on Wednesday they would
complain about Israel to the International Criminal Court if the Jewish state proceeds
with plans to build housing on land the Palestinians want for a future state.

"We see a strong bias against Israel
that has not gone away," U.S. Ambassador Donahoe said."We have encouraged Israel to come to
the UPR, to tell its story, to present its own narrative of its human rights
situation. We think it is a good opportunity to do that."(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by
Andrew Roche and Robin Pomeroy)